Are you a victim of inadequate sleep? Dietary prebiotics might help you out!

New Delhi: If you have been facing sleep disorder since a long time, dietary prebiotics consumption can help you out.

Now a first-of-its kind study by University of Colorado Boulder, scientists suggests that lesser-known gut-health promoters called prebiotics, which serve as food for good bacteria inside the gut, can also have an impact, improving sleep and buffering the physiological impacts of stress.

"We found that dietary prebiotics can improve non-REM sleep, as well as REM sleep after a stressful event," said Robert Thompson, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Integrative Physiology and first author of the new study.

It was published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. Prebiotics are dietary fibers found naturally in foods like chicory, artichokes, raw garlic, leeks and onions.

When beneficial bacteria digest prebiotic fiber, they not only multiply, improving overall gut health, but they also release metabolic byproducts.

Some research suggests these byproducts can influence brain function, explains lead author Monika Fleshner, a professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology.

For the study, the researchers fed three-week-old male rats a diet of either standard chow or chow that included prebiotics.

They then monitored the rats` body temperature, gut bacteria and sleep-wake cycles - using EEG, or brain activity testing -- over time.

They found that the rats on the prebiotic diet spent more time in non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, which is restful and restorative, than those on the non-prebiotic diet.

(With ANI inputs)